SOME OF OUR FAVORITE LOCAL STORIES.
FEEDING HOPE: JOCELYN’S STORY
A single mom trying to make ends meet, Jocelyn forgot about Thanksgiving during her last trip to the grocery store. After buying food for herself and her five-year old daughter, there wasn’t enough in her budget to purchase the ingredients for a holiday meal. That’s why she was very grateful to be able to get everything she needed at Tom’s Turkey Drive this year.
Without any family in town, Jocelyn works hard to balance taking care of her daughter and paying the bills on her own. “I don’t really have a support system,” she said. For Jocelyn, the COVID-19 crisis has made that balance even harder. She typically works as an animal nanny, but the pandemic has led to a significant drop in her income, as many people are home more or asking family members to watch their pets.
“Thank you for making the holiday hopeful and thankful – for everything that you do.”
The food Jocelyn received from Tom’s Turkey Drive would bring her not only nourishment this holiday but also joy, since she loves to cook for herself and her daughter. “I’m just looking forward to getting in the kitchen and doing some culinary goodness,” she shared.
As Jocelyn finished putting her Thanksgiving ingredients in her backpack to take home, she had a message for the many volunteers and donors who made Tom’s Turkey Drive possible: “Thank you for making the holiday hopeful and thankful – for everything that you do.”
In The Kitchen: Food Waste Prevention Week – April 5
Earth Month is the perfect opportunity to reflect on our habits and how they impact the planet. We might think about how often we drive and take advantage of the nicer weather to bike to work, or maybe even grab some friends and family and find a river cleanup event for Earth Day. But did you know that you can make an impact without even leaving your house? In fact, reflecting on our cooking and grocery shopping habits has the potential to have a greater and long-lasting impact on our environment.
Gonzaga’s Dusty Stromer and Zilch: Teaming up to end hunger – March 29
Dusty Stromer understood from a young age that while his family had enough to eat, others in his circle were not so fortunate. Dusty had a courtside seat to food insecurity — he says that by age 10, he knew some of his friends came from households where food was not reliably available.
A freshman shooting guard on the men’s basketball team at Gonzaga University, Dusty recently got a close look at the fight against hunger by touring Second Harvest’s warehouse and helping to distribute free food through its Zilch program.
Grocery Rescue: Changing lives daily – March 22
Your visit to a local grocery store may seem like a routine, unimportant chore. That perfect strawberry, tomato or apple you select is made possible because different departments of your neighborhood store carefully maintain a standard for each product. But what happens when the banana is too green, or the strawberries are too ripe? That product is stranded and without rescue would find its way to the landfill. Thanks to stores partnering with Second Harvest’s Grocery Rescue program, that nutritious food is shared with partner agencies throughout the 26 counties in Eastern Washington and North Idaho served by Second Harvest.
Feeding Eastern Washington and North Idaho
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